Controversial fracking ballot measures withdrawn

Millions of dollars poured into campaigns for four ballot initiatives came to naught Tuesday, after grass-roots groups and lawmakers agreed to withdraw the initiatives from November election contention.

The initiatives, known as 88, 89, 121, and 137, targeted oil and gas development in Colorado and straddled both sides of the issue. They were at the heart of a last-minute compromise on Monday between advocacy groups and Gov. John Hickenlooper. The governor asked that the ballot measures be dropped hours before groups planned to submit lists of signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on Monday. In exchange the state would back away from a lawsuit with the city of Longmont over its 2012 ban on hydraulic fracturing, a controversial oil and gas extraction technique.

The official withdrawal of all measures didn’t happen until around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, when both groups signed official notarized letters declaring their intentions to withdraw their ballots. After holding out for hours on Monday, Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, finally agreed to withdraw 121, because it ultimately seemed the best way to defeat 88 and 89, he said Tuesday. Coloradans for Safe and Clean Energy, a group supporting 88 and 89, agreed to rescind its measures late Monday night.

Tuesday’s announcement ended months of intense campaigning for both sides, in which donors tossed more than $10 million into consultants’ fees, signature gathering and advertising. All groups were left with thousands — in one case, millions — of dollars in their coffers after their campaigns abruptly ended Tuesday, according to finance reports filed to the Secretary of State’s Office last week.

Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy and Energy Independence, the issue committee backed by the oil and gas industry, raised more than $9 million to combat restrictions to oil and gas development, according to finance records filed last week to the Secretary of State’s Office. Andarko Petroleum and Noble Energy, two of Colorado’s top oil and gas operators, were the biggest contributors to the campaign, collectively raising more than $4 million.

Coloradans for Safe and Clean Energy, backed by Democratic Congressman Jared Polis, raised more than $900,000 and spent around $270,000 in June and July just gathering signatures for initiatives 88 and 89, according to state finance records.

McNulty’s group, Energy Bans Hurt Communities, was left with $36,919.34, which McNulty said will be used to round off legal and other campaign costs. Polis’ group was left with $444,995.72 — members did not return calls Tuesday to answer questions about their plans for the money. The industry-backed group, Protecting Colorado’s Environment, was left with more than $3 million.

With Polis at his side, Hickenlooper announced the deal at a news conference on Monday. Reactions to his last minute move were mixed — initially, grassroots groups refused to drop their ballot measures. Some were outraged by Polis’ sudden change of heart, after the lawmaker raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to get signatures for 88 and 89.

The ballot measures were evenly split between oil and gas industry advocates and their opponents. Initiatives 88 and 89 would have changed setbacks between occupied buildings and wells to 2,000 feet, and amended the Colorado constitution, respectively. Initiative 121 would have guaranteed that oil and gas tax revenue goes only to communities without bans. Initiative 137 would have required fiscal impact considerations for all statutes.

In lieu of the four ballot measures being put to vote, Hickenlooper created an 18 person special commission of residents, politicians and industry representatives. The group will be charged with studying oil and gas development in Colorado. The nascent commission’s plans were still poorly formed on Tuesday, and even appointed-chair Gwen Lachelt knew very little about the task force’s goals and timelines. The group will meet until the end of the year, with the goal of offering recommendations on oil and gas development to the legislature in 2015.

Sitting on the task force will be six local politicians and residents, six industry representatives and six “respected Coloradans,” said Lachelt, who is a La Plata county commissioner.

As of Tuesday, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, currently embroiled in a suit with Longmont, had not yet responded to the governor’s request, but expects to discuss the issue this week. Lawsuits involving the Colorado Oil and Gas Association — one of which includes Fort Collins — will move forward, the association said on Monday.